Gamaheu

a natural cameo, or intaglio. These stones (chiefly agate) contain natural representations of plants, landscapes, or animals. Pliny tells us that the “Agate of Pyrrhus” contained a representation of the nine Muses, with Apollo in the midst. Paracelsus calls them natural talismans. Albertus Magnus makes mention of them, and Gaffaret, in his Curiosités inouïes, attributes to them magical powers. (French, camaïeu, from the oriental gamahuia, camehuia, or camebouia.)

⁂ When magic was ranked as a science, certain conjunctions were called “Gamahæan unions.”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.